Touring internationally provides a special opportunity with it – the opportunity to be cultural ambassadors. On our recent tour, we tried to take full advantage of this privilege and enjoyed the experience of playing this role.
While Indian music has a following internationally, there are still many communities and audiences that have not been exposed to it. It is through cultural exchange that we can better understand the global community. By sharing our art and hearts, we can connect with people from around the world. Many times, you find Indian classical musicians performing for a niche audience – an established group of Indian music fans. At Rhythm Riders, we try to push the boundaries and grow the audience for this art. Thanks to some great tour planning, we had some wonderful moments where we were able to share the beautiful world of Indian music with new audiences.
At a Presbyterian university, Tabla Ecstasy was the first non-western musical performance that the Music department had ever hosted; while at a Catholic university, attendees had never heard of Kathak. Reactions such as opera students wanting to change their subject from Vocal music to Tabla, requests for artist residencies and inquiries on how to learn more about Indian classical arts remind us time and time again of the power of our music and the responsibility we have as artists to do justice to our art with every presentation.
It was an honour to be a part of so many people’s first encounter with Indian classical arts and tabla. It was a pleasure to work with folks whose commitment to diversity and cultural exchange is inspirational. They take risks in bringing new works into the community and we value their trust in us to showcase our art in the best possible way. The experiences on our tri-country tour were a continual reminder of how fortunate we are to have the chance of a lifetime to be able to learn and work with Pandit Divyang Vakil, who has created such an captivating presentation of tabla that draws back audiences in larger numbers every time.
